


meadow saffron

by berried



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Lowercase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 04:46:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10983651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berried/pseuds/berried
Summary: every kunoichi has their own certain skill set, ino's tended to be one that very few had and even less did as well as she did – canon complaint, ino-centric.





	meadow saffron

**Author's Note:**

> this fic deals with the concept of using sex and seduction as a form of espionage, and features references to underaged sex. please be advised. as always, laps lock is my stylistic choice

the first person to actually object about her going on this type of mission wasn't sakura, or shikamaru, or even chouji. it was asuma. originally, he hadn't been keyed in to what his student–former student, now teammate, was going to be doing, but instead he had been struck by the peculiarity of her suddenly spending more time with kurenai and anko. when he asked ino about it she would reply that it as girl stuff, while kurenai would just brush it off.

he wouldn't dare ask anko, because whatever it was, she would tell him that it was something far worse.

his curiosity peaked when he realized she was spending more and more time at the torture and interrogation unit. ino claimed that she was just spending more time with her dad, but everyone knew that ino would rather die than spend her days making lunch for her dad and it to him every day. kunoichi or not, she was still a fifteen-year-old girl and no fifteen-year-old girl really desired to hang out with her dad that much.

he had finally managed to get what was going on out of kurenai–it had been her own fault, really, she had been complaining about working with ino because she was used to working with the soft spoken hyuuga girl, not the loud and boastful ino–he was unsure of what to do. first he was upset, that she had been chosen for a mission like this, and secondly because no one had told him. he deserved to know, ino was his student.

"not anymore." like kurenai, tsunade reminded him that ino was now a chunin, she was no longer asuma's responsibility, and that ino could be assigned missions like this.

"even if she's not my student–" it was going to take him forever to acknowledge her as anything other than his protégé, "i should have been informed as her team captain."

tsunade could only sigh as she looked up from the scroll that she had been working on. gesturing to the seat in front of her desk. she knew that she was going to have this talk with _someone_ about ino and her path as a kunoichi, and she knew that she was going to have multiple talks about it.

"i understand that you're concerned," she rested her chin on her hands as she looked at asuma, maintaining eye contact with him so that he could understand just how serious she was about this. "ino is at the age, where any kunoichi would begin taking missions like this."

"then what about sakura? or tenten? or any other kunoichi." asuma had to protest, because there were girls that could easily do this mission, so he wasn't entirely convinced that it _had_ to be ino.

"sakura and tenten are too brute for this type of thing." and asuma knew that it was the truth, and he knew where tsunade was going with this. she was going to say how ino was perfect for this type of thing and even if he could argue it, he knew that it was pointless because she was right.

"with her bloodline, ino would be someone that is optimal for situations like these. it's very rare that a female yamanaka is born but when they are, they become one of the most important people for intelligence gathering missions of this nature." as tsunade explained why ino would be good for this, asuma found himself clenching his fist, because he knew that she was right. she knew that ino would be a valuable kunoichi for the village, and asuma knew that too.

this is what he had been training her for. to be a kunoichi that could protect their village and serve it to the best of her ability. and this, this would help her go above and beyond that. kunoichi who took these type of missions often received special treatment, and were hailed as truly giving themselves to their village entirely.

"but she's only fifteen." asuma could feel there was a hint of begging in his voice, and he wasn't entirely sure if tsunade heard it, but if she did he hoped she would understand him even more–change her mind about ino doing this.

there was a pause once more, as tsunade collected the words to try and console the concerned teacher. truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure what to say or how to comfort him, simply because she had never been in the situation. she was never approached for these type of missions, being the granddaughter of the hokage she benefitted from it. her own students were never really suited for this type of thing so she didn't have to worry.

so how was she to console asuma? normally she wouldn't offer something like this, but she knew him. and she knew ino. and she couldn't exactly do what he wanted her to do.

so she did what she knew what to do, and she remained professional.

"ino will be going on this mission, she leaves tomorrow. she will return in three days. if you have nothing else to say, you will be dismissed." tsunade punctuated her words by gesturing to the door before turning her attention to the papers she had been reading prior to asuma's entrance.

there was a silence as asuma sat there, knowing that he could offer nothing to get her to change her mind, and he knew that she was right. so he sat there, just to collect his thoughts before he stood. there were no words as he left the hokage's office.

he saw ino off before she left. he wasn't much for affection–far more than kakashi was with his students but much less than kurenai and gai–so he clamped his hand on her shoulder and told her to be safe. ino gave him a shaky smile and told him–mentally, she was still working on the entire mind body transmission thing–not to tell shikamaru and chouji.

with a steady nod and a look to anko to keep her out of trouble, he sent her off.

when she returned, he met her at the gate, but because he was asuma, he didn't fret nor did he panic. he walked her to her house, telling her that she should go shower and get some rest, and let anko do the mission report. the next day the two of them met up, and he took ino out for an ino day.

the two rarely spent time just the two of them, much less indulging in whatever ino wanted to do. but he took her shopping, and took her to get a manicure (she always complained about how her nails are dirty after missions) and he took her to her favorite café, smiling as she happily ordered her favourites.

he watched her eat, something that's usually a rare sight for him, a small smile on his face.

"you did good, ino." he said when she's mid bite and he knows that it catches her off guard. she paused for a moment, but she smiled. an actual, genuine, ino smile.

"of course i did. i'm now the queen of seduction." and the way she made light of it, with a flip of her hair is so ino that asuma could only shake his head at her comment.

he takes her out like this after each time, until his death.

* * *

 

the first time that shikamaru and chouji find out that she was going on these types of missions, it's when they're assigned to go on an undercover mission with her. she's pretending to be the daughter of a very rich merchant and shikamaru and chouji are her guards while she "travels" to the capital of the land of fire to meet with the daimyo.

really, it's because there have been kumo ninjas in the area, and kumo ninjas too close to konoha were always something that made the village (particularly hyuuga's) on edge. so, team ten were sent on an intelligence gathering mission. find the kumo ninjas, find out why they were there.

shikamaru and chouji watched with discomfort, though it couldn't be voice, as ino was plied with drinks and food. all of which she managed to pretend that she wasn't eating, or drinking, in most cases just passing it off to the kumo ninja, the one who they deduced was the leader of the group, so that she could be in the right state of mind.

she could feel their discomfort as she was invited to stay the night at the inn and she promised that she would do so, after "ditching" her guards. this meant that shikamaru and chouji were going to stay in the forrest near the inn, keeping an eye and ready to attack in case the mission went south.

but it didn't.

so they stayed in the trees, knowing what was happening despite the fact that ino had turned off the mind link she shared with the tow of them. they knew that she had done it to save them the knowledge, because when they were on a mission, ino never turned it off.

but this one time, she wanted to spare them.

even with it off though, they knew. they knew exactly what was happening and it made them both sick to their stomach to actually think about it. they understood that it was a part of being a kunoichi, and they knew that ino was good at what she did, but it still made them upset. to know that their best friend was in there, doing something that they hadn't even done themselves.

when she had finished, they met back at their own inn, ino first showering before she reported back with what she had found out.

"they're here doing surveillance, keeping an eye out for any hyuuga who might pass through the area. we'll have to report it back to tsunade as soon as we get back." ino was drying her hair as she joined her two friends at the small table in her room.

a silence washed over them for a moment, and ino could only sigh.

"okay, go ahead spit it out." even with the abilities to delve in to people's minds, she didn't need to do it to know they had questions for her.

"how long have you been doing this?" chouji asked ino, for once he wasn't eating, and it showed just how concerned with this situation that they had found out about.

"it's my third time." she offered, instantly regretting her word choice. she meant it was her third mission, not her third time doing this. sex. even if it actually was.

the silence settled over the three of them again, and ino wanted to just answer the questions that she knew they had, but she didn't want to push it on them. she wanted them to do it on their own, come up with the words and phrases on their own.

"how…is this what you've been training and meeting with kurenai and anko for?" chouji is the one that's doing all the talking, as expected. ino answered his question with a nod of her head and she stood up to begin making them tea. to do something so that she could avoid the judging and curious eyes of her two friends.

"why didn't you tell us?" chouji finally asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue, and ino could hear his voice shaking. no, no no. chouji couldn't cry, because if he cried, then ino would cry and shikamaru would call them troublesome and go outside to let them sit in their tears.

"it's just…something that you guys didn't really need to know about. they're espionage missions, and that's something that should be kept secret." ino offered, but that wasn't the actual truth.

"don't lie to us." this time shikamaru spoke, some forcefulness in his voice, and this surprised even ino and chouji. it was rare for shikamaru to be like this, but it made ino understand the seriousness of the situation. and it made her uncomfortable.

so she stayed quiet until the tea was brewed and then she sat at the table offering it for the two of them. chouji accepted, but shikamaru denied it. the bitter taste of the tea actually did help calm her nerves and she gave a soft sigh.

"i didn't want you guys to…judge me." her hands griped the cup in her hand. the two men stayed silent as she collected her words. it was rare to have ino like this, without a smart response or quick defend herself. instead, she just sat there finding her words.

"i know that it's not something that you guys considered being a part of the ino-shika-cho unit…or for me to even do, but tsunade said that i'm the best for this type of thing, and so far she hasn't been wrong." the shrug that joined her words were such an ino quality that it made her bristled teammates relax just a little bit.

the silence falls over them once more as her teammates, register her words.

"we wouldn't judge you." chouji is the first to break the silence, "we could never judge you for something like this. we just want to know what's going on…and be there for you." ino is thankful that chouji is always so gentle, and she gives him a smile.

"don't go around keeping secrets from us." shikamaru finally offered his opinion on the entire situation, "it just makes things troublesome for us." shikamaru acting like shikamaru made ino laugh once more.

"we'll be with you, ino, each time that we can be." chouji reached for ino's hand, covering it with his own. he would've reached for shikamaru's but he knew that the other male was already having his sentimentality run out. instead, the third member of their group gave a nod of his head.

* * *

 

with the war coming up, ino found herself taking a lot more missions of this nature. some of them she had to kill the other person in the end, and other times she just needed to get in their mind and find out things that would help the allied forces.

and it begins to wear on her, almost noticeably so. she had to do three solo missions in a row, gathering information that would be vital for the allied shinobi forces, and when she finished reporting to tsunade, she was given time off. required, time off.

"this is something that can be very stressful for kunoichi, ino. you're young and you've already done at least…" tsunade paused as she looked down at the file in front of her, trailing off as she caught how ino's numbers had risen to the double digits.

"you're going to take two weeks break, and then when you return, you won't be taking these types of missions for the next month. i recommend that you seek some type of help. and relax. this is something that is stressful, and we need you to be in your best condition for the upcoming battles." for once in her life, ino didn't protest this, and instead took the words to heart and gave a nood of her head.

"thank you, hokage-sama." with a slight bow, ino left the hokage's office, eager to be given a small vacation.

when she returned home, she took a bath, adding in a flower bomb from her collection and she soaked. taking her time she enjoyed it, feeling her muscles relax and her mind relax as well. when she climbed out of the tub she dragged herself to her bed and it felt like her body was melting in to it.

she had wanted a vacation, and had even made a note to ask tsunade for it ithe next time she met with her. however, with the impending war, she wasn't able to actually do so, given how everything was happening so fast. there was talks of a war, talks of her training at the torture & interrogation unit (her father and ibiki were absolutely gunning for her to come in  and join the elite team), talks of shika-ino-cho and what would happen post war. and talks of ino and these missions that she went on.

among the other ninja in the village, it had gotten around just how much ino was used for these types of espionage missions. she was being praised for it, which was good, but it lead to situations that she didn't want to encounter.

while ino wasn't one to pay mind to people talking about her–she was loud, boisterous, and tended to be the center of attention in conversations. people talking about her was common. now though, it was _what_ they were saying that that was slowly getting to her.

was this what kurenai first meant when she told her that it could be mentally taxing?

other ninjas understood.

it was civilians who made ino feel uncomfortable.

some people, usually women, came in to the flower shop and turned up their noses at ino when she offered to help them. there were words being whispered when she smiled a certain way at the guy who worked in her local coffee shop.  her own mother even once commented on her being promiscuous–though her father had a long talk with her about it after that and explained to his wife that it was for her duty as a kunoichi.

guys –shinobi and civilians– approached her more. but not in the way that she wanted. they were aggressive, more sexual, and showed disregard for ino and what she wanted or said. usually it was newer ones, but even kiba had said something once about her being promiscuous and asked for a test run.

she punched him square in the face and then he was ignored by a lot of people in their group of friends for a week. when he apologized, it was in such an unlike kiba way, to show that he meant it, and she forgave him. he bought her dinner as a result.

as she laid in her bed, ino closed her eyes, trying to erase the thoughts of people talking about her, and instead replaced them with thoughts of the people she loved.

sasuke.

as the image of the male flashed in her head, ino couldn't help but feel herself relax just a bit at the thought of him. even now she was in love with him still. he was handsome and perfect in her imagination, and she knew that he wouldn't judge her for going on seduction missions.

or would he?

opening her eyes, ino suddenly decided that she didn't want to think about sasuke anymore.

she didn't want to be in bed either. to be left with her own thoughts was something that was worse than she had imagined right now. was this what tsunade meant when she said that she should see someone. getting out of her bed, she got dressed again and headed out of the house, deciding to take a walk.

she wasn't entire sure where she was going, but walking and talking to people was helping her forget all about the worries that she had in the back of her head. about people who talked about her, either negatively or positively. it was okay, ino had decided as she walked past a store-front, children playing loudly. even if they talked poorly about her, it was okay because she cared for them.

this was her village, and she would do anything for them. for as long as she needed to.

* * *

 

after the war, when the dust settled, ino found herself going on less of these missions. it had, in fact, dwindled down to almost zero and she wasn't sre if she was thankful or if she missed them. they had been her main stay mission wise since she was fifteen, and she was sure that she had done more than any other kunoichi ever in recent times.

she still worked with torture & interrogation, trying her hardest to fill the void that her father left behind.

she was really throwing herself in to her work there, since it was the only thing that she could do that distracted her from what was happening at home. she couldn't step in to the flower shop and help her mother fill all of the various orders that were coming in–people were having funerals in large numbers– and she had been spending less and less time at her house.

everything there reminded her of her father, who she hadn't even been able to see before his death. his last words were still on her mind though, and she wasn't entirely sure if she really did become the bush clover like he had said he she did.

she was single, claimed as one of the best seductresses in the village, not dating, unsure if she was able to take over as clan leader (the elders were pressuring her every day), unsure if she could take over the flower shop and she wasn't entirely steady in her position in the t&i.

so when ibiki offered her an intelligence gathering mission of the nature she was used to, she jumped to the occasion. it was weird for her to be so eager to go on one like this, but she was more than happy to get out of the village and clear her head about the entire situation.

when she was outside of the village, ino found herself being accompanied by sasuke. the man she had loved would be following her and watching as she gathered intelligence in a manner that she was so used to. part of ino hoped that he would be amazed her transformation and how much she had grown, into the beautiful and seductive woman that she was.

"are you comfortable with this?" sasuke finally spoke as they made their way through the village. truthfully, ino was surprised that sasuke had asked something like that and she couldn't help but be ino. wrapping her arms around his, she pressed against him, squeezing his arm (his only one, really) just a bit too tightly.

but he doesn't complain because this is ino and how she always acts around him.

"aww, sasuke-kun, are you worried about me~? don't worry, i'm a big girl." she rested her head on shoulder and he shrugged her off, like always. ino pouted, but didn't object to it, instead cracking a smile as she was met with sasuke's usual stoic 'hn'.

the two walked in silence for a moment longer before sasuke spoke again.

"sakura told me that usually, kunoichi of your skill set only do a few of these missions before stopping completely. she said that you have been doing this for a long time, you should be more concerned about yourself." ino wasn't sure if sasuke was speaking his own feelings or voicing sakura's.

"i'm good at what i do, sasuke-kun. we all do what we can for the village." ino offered him her answer, the same answer that she often gave to everyone when they spoke to her about it. she was once again met with a typical 'hn' from the male.

"but it's good to know that you care so much about me!" and her arms are wrapped around his shoulders–or is it shoulder now–and sasuke doesn't protest like always. instead he just carries her body weight through the forest, knowing that it was better to do this than try and fight her about it.

when the mission was over, ino found herself in the hospital, things ad one south halfway through and–as ino told sakura– she found herself thrown off the dick. sakura didn't find it amusing and had spent so much of ino's time in the hospital lecturing her.

"you shouldn't be doing this anymore, ino. there are other people who can do it." sakura was chiding her again, for the umpteenth time, and ino was brushing it off.

"it's just a broken arm, sakura, there's no reason for me to lock myself away forever and ever." ino gestured to her arm the soft cast holding it in place. sakura didn't heal her properly as a punishment.

"now, it's a broken arm, just _now_ but it could be worse, ino." there was a twinge of strain in sakura's voice, and ino knew exactly what she was referencing.

once, shortly after the war, ino had gone on a seduction mission had gone, so wrong that no one, other than tsunade, actually knew what had happened. ino wouldn't talk about it, other than she had gotten the information that was needed– and that the target was dead. the parts in her mission report were sealed and redacted from wandering eyes and she never told sakura or shikamaru or chouji about it.

she spent three days in her bedroom, not talking to anyone, and when she emerged, she acted like nothing had happened. and that was the way she wanted to keep it. the only person who would be able to get in to her mind and find out was her father. he had been gone though, and even if he could get in, he wouldn't. no yamanaka would read the mind of the other without their permission.

"i don't want to argue." sakura leaned back in her chair, already stopping ino from debating her about the subject, "i just want you to start thinking of yourself first, ino. you've served your village well. it's time for you to consider yourself."

and ino wanted to turn this back n sakura and say the same. mention how sakura had been throwing herself in to working at the hospital, spending day and night. she was barely giving herself time for herself, but here she was telling ino how to behave.

ino didn't argue with her though. maybe, she was right.

* * *

 

"you said _no_?!" sakura was bewildered the glass of wine shattering in her hand. she was shocked about this because it didn't even cross her mind that this was a possibility.

sai had asked her to marry him, and ino said no.

"i don't understand? weren't you always going on about how you wanted him to marry you? you even said that you were jealous of hinata and naruto for goodness sake." it was confusing, and a little distressing for ino to have said no to sai, and she was sure that naruto was trying to console his friend about the situation as well.

truthfully, ino did want to marry him. she wanted to marry sai and have kids that would totally be better than whatever sakura and sasuke could even consider conceiving (and they had considered it a lot). but she couldn't bring herself to say yes.

"i'm not wife material." ino finally offered the other girl, and sakura stopped cleaning up the glass that was on the floor and table to look at ino with raised eyebrows.

"i dedicated a good portion of my life to using my body to find out information about plans and villages and people. i can cover it with all the things that a wife should do, but at the end of the day…i'm not wife material, sakura." the words sounded foreign on her tongue, as they were thoughts that ino had never actually considered voicing.

she loved sai. she honestly did, she loved the way he made situations awkward and she loved how he could calm everything with a smile she loved that he had taken up learning flower arrangements and how to put together bouquets just for her.

and yet, ino wasn’t sure if he could love her like this.

when she was younger, ino had never actually been concerned about this. it had never even crossed her mind, not until kakashi told her that she was going to be taken off of seduction missions permanently. ino had been confused, since she hadn't done one in ages (too old, too peaceful of a time) and she found herself asking why. he said that someone had requested it, and kakashi agreed for a number of reasons.

and when ino got home and sai asked her to marry him–he had done it in such a way too, so traditional, that ino knew he had read it in his books and she was touched–but she was able to put two and two together. and she said no.

and now here she was, with sakura trying to explain why she had said no. said no to the man that she loved and ha dconsidered marrying at one time, for a long time, but now she didn't know.

sakura listened to ino's confession, the glass cleaned up and a soft look on her face. ino's worries made sense to her–how could they not–but at the same time they're foolish.

"sai doesn't care about things like that, ino." sakura finally speaking caused ino to look up, surprised by her friend's voice breaking the conversation. "sai is one of the last people who cares about what a person does for the village, because as long as it was done for the village he knows it's your duty. he's the first to know about sacrificing everything for your duty."

and she wasn't lying. ino hated when sakura was right. maybe ino was overreacting. letting her own insecurities get the best of her and keep her from doing something that she knew that she wanted.

"with the way i'm projecting…i could use your forehead as a screen." she cut her eyes at sakura, knowing that even though she had insulted her friend, she was thankful for her helping her like this. she could always count on sakura to clear her head or put things in to perspective.

as she returned home that evening, ino tried to figure out how she was going to talk to sai. if he was actually there–he had been there when she left, but there was no doubt in her mind that he had gone to seek help from their circle of friends about the situation. and in the back of her mind she was worried about just _who_ he went to ask for help. kakashi and kiba were banned from giving him relationship advice, and ino was always wary when he spoke to narut or lee about relationship issues.

when she entered the apartment–they were staying here until they got married, if they ever got married– ino was surprised that she didn't see rose petals laid out on the floor or anything like that, and she was curious as to if he had even left the apartment then. slipping off her shoes, she slowly entered the living room.

"i'm home." she called out, waiting for a response from sai. when she didn't hear anything, ino gave a heavy sigh. great, he wasn't here and she probably scared him away for good now. just what she wanted to do.

heading in to the kitchen, ino began to clean up the dishes. they had been eating when he asked her to marry him, he had even made dinner for her tonight. ino felt foolish, to assume that sai actually cared about those things. instead she had projected her own insecurities on to him and now she had ruined one of the best things that she had had.

sai let her in to his mind, he let her see the whole parts of him that he hadn't shown anyone else, things he had locked away, and she instead showed that she didn't know him at all. ino felt like a fool, and she could feel tears welling in her eyes the more that she thought about it.

it wasn't until she let out a sob that she realized she was actually crying. and it had been a long, long time since ino actually cried. the crying didn't last long when she heard movement in the apartment. with tears in her eyes, ino reached for the knife that was resting in the sink, raising it in case of anything dangerous.

"it's me." sai warned, and ino felt herself relaxing a bit as she turned to look at him. he immediately took a step back from ino so that he would be out of her range if she hadn't heard him say that. relaxing her hand, ino immediately turned around, placing the knife back in the sink and wiping her face. it didn't really help since her hands were still wet.

"i feel as though i overstepped my boundaries and made you upset." ino immediately opened her mouth to correct sai, but only stopped as he continued. "i had requested that kakashi-sama give you time off from missions, because i had once read that women enjoy the wedding planning process, and you seemed over joyed when working on naruto-kun and sakura-chan's weddings, i figured that you would be the same for this."

ino paused at the other's words. and god she felt even worse about her own projections now, but she had to compose herself and explain what had happened. and then yell at kakashi for not giving her the next few months off as requested.

"no, you did nothing wrong, sai…" ino shook her head as she turne back around to face him. despite the normally placid look on his face, ino could tell that he was upset, and she felt bad. really bad.

"i…when i went to meet with kakashi, he told me that i would no longer be going on seduction missions and even though i hadn't gone on them in a long time, i came home and suddenly you wanted to marry me and…" ino trailed off as she tried to voice her insecurities to sai, but the words weren't coming to her right. inhaling softly, she tried to find the right words.

"i suddenly felt as if i wouldn't be 'proper' wife material." as she said it to sai, ino found herself looking away from him, suddenly staring at the wall behind him. the silence washed over the two of them, sai registering her words.

"well you aren't 'wife material'." ino suddenly found herself reaching for the knife in the sink once more as sai spoke.

"but, not because of the missions that you have gone on, those do not bother me, as those were a part of your duty as kunoichi, and you served your village well. you also handled them well, because from my understanding, only a certain set of kunoichi can do them, and none have done as many as you have, nor did all of them have as high of a success rate. how you've served the village is irrelevant to whether or not you're wife material."

he was so blunt. there were no soft spots with sai when he spoke, but maybe that was why he worked with ino. maybe that was why his words meant the most to her (right up there with sakura). and she could feel tears welling in her eyes once more, because she knew that her projections had been just that and that her insecurities, were not a concern or even something that sai had held in his mind.

and she cried again. she cried because she had said no to sai. she cried because she had let her insecurities of something get the best of her. she cried because he loved her, despite her not being 'wife material'. and because she loved him.

sai had always been awkward around people crying, and even after dating for years, he could only stand there as his girlfriend cried. watching her until ino found herself cried out. he didn't move from his spot, and that was how ino knew that he was showing he cared.

when her tears stilled, and her voice cleared, she looked at sai, clearing her voice.

"yeah, i'll marry you, but only if you take back that wife material comment." of course she could go back like nothing happened. like she wasn't just crying, even if her eyes were red and she knew they'd be swollen in the morning. it was okay though.

"no." and suddenly ino found herself looking for the knife in the sink.

later that night, when they were in bed, sai pulled her close and told her that she had done something not many could have. and that for serving her village like that, and for so long, he could never judge her for it.

* * *

 

after the wedding and honey moon, ino returned to active duty, this time though, she told kakashi that she was officially done with seduction missions (he pointed out that he had already taken her off of them anyway, but was ignored) but she would still like to be a part of the torture and interrogation unit.

he approved it with a wave of her hand and instead of leaving like kakashi really wanted her to, ino took a seat in the chair across from his desk.

"let's talk about the use of flowers and plants in interrogation and espionage, though." crossing her legs, ino cracked a smile as she began to explain to kakashi her ideas.


End file.
